Christianity

Christianity

Belief

Rituals

some rituals that christian's do is go to church on sunday's, read the bible daily, pray to God whenever, they do bible study, and they do the sign of the cross

History of Christianity

The history of Christianity is really the history of Western civilization. Christianity has had an all-pervasive influence on society at large—art, language, politics, law, family life, calendar dates, music, and the very way we think have all been colored by Christian influence for nearly two millennia. The story of the church, therefore, is an important one to know.

The initial converts to Christianity were Jews or proselytes to Judaism, and the church was centered in Jerusalem. Because of this, Christianity was seen at first as a Jewish sect, akin to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, or the Essenes. However, what the apostles preached was radically different from what other Jewish groups were teaching. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah (the anointed King) who had come to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17) and institute a new covenant based on His death (Mark 14:24). This message, with its charge that they had killed their own Messiah, infuriated many Jewish leaders, and some, like Saul of Tarsus, took action to stamp out “the Way” (Acts 9:1-2).

monotheistic or polytheistic

Christianity is monotheistic because they believe in one God.

They call their God, God. Their holy book is The bible. Major holidays are Christmas and Easter. Their highly practices rituals are praying, going to church, bible study, and church groups

Rituals

History of Judaism

Judaism traces its history back to the creation of mankind, but the explicitly Jewish historical origins begin with Abraham and the Hebrews. According to the Torah, Abraham's home was the northern Mesopotamian town of Harran.

Under God's command, Abraham migrated to the region of Canaan, which is roughly equivalent to modern Israel and Lebanon. For a time the Hebrews lived in servitude in Egypt, then returned to Canaan.

The ancient Hebrew people were seminomadic herdsman and farmers, organized into tribes and living in Mesopotamia. Contributions of nearby cultures include a West Semitic concept of divine messengers , Old Babylonian and Hurro-Semite law, Mesopotamian cosmogony and primitive history, Canaanite language and mythological literature, and Egyptian hymns and wisdom literature.

All of these cultures featured belief in creator and preserver gods, a system of ethics, and developed religious rituals.The head of the Canaanite pantheon was El, a powerful god depicted as both judgmental and compassionate.

Monotheistic or polytheistic

Judaism is monotheistic because they believe that there is only one God.

They call their God, God. Their holy book is the Tora.

Their major holiday's are Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur--the new year related holidays

Sukkot--harvest celebration Shavuot--celebration of the giving of the Torah Passover--celebration of the flight from Egypt

Hinduism

belief- Hindus believe in a universal soul and God called Brahman who takes on many forms that some Hindus worship as gods or goddesses. They believe in reincarnation which is a belief that the soul is eternal and lives many lifetimes. Hindus also believe in Karma which is the cause of their particular destiny.

Rituals

Hindus celebrate and ritualize the moments of transition in life of an individual. These events are more than just occasions for individuals. They are intended for the entire community to recognize the significant changes that individual members undergo. Hindus mark the changes of life with a series of celebrations known as Some Hindu communities observe as many as sixteen different samskaras. The most significant ones for all Hindus are those that concern birth, initiation, marriage, and death

History of Hinduism

Hinduism is unique among the world religions in that it has no founder or date of origin. While most major religions derive from new ideas taught by a charismatic leader, Hinduism is simply the religion of the people of India, which has gradually developed over four thousand years. The origins and authors of its sacred texts are largely unknown.

Although today's Hinduism differs significantly from earlier forms of Indian religion, Hinduism's roots date back as far as 2000 BC, making it one of the oldest surviving religions. Because of its great age, the early history of Hinduism is unclear. The most ancient writings have yet to be deciphered, so for the earliest periods scholars must rely on educated guesses based on archaeology and the study of contemporary texts.

Monotheistic or polytheistic

Hinduism's are a polytheistic religion is the great pantheon of Hindu gods.

They have three main gods Rahman, and Shiva, and Vishnu

There is no single Hindu holy book; instead, Hinduism consists of a number of holy books. These are Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana and Veda. However, the prime book is the Bhagavad-Gita and is part of the Mahabharata.

Rituals

Going for Refuge. This is probably the most significant ritual connecting people to the Dharma. This is the oldest and most common ritual throughout most Buddhist traditions.

Offering homage or respect to the Buddha, to Buddhist teachers, teachings, or other important areas of Buddhist life.

Making offerings or practicing dana.

Confession of faults

Precept ceremonies

Calling on spiritual forces for support or protection

Blessings, aspirations, and Brahmavihara “prayers.”

Dedication of merit

Rites of Passage such as weddings and funerals

Initiations and ordinations

History of Buddism

By finding the path to Enlightenment, Siddhartha was led from the pain of suffering and rebirth towards the path of Enlightenment and became known as the Buddha or 'awakened one'.

Buddha temple statue, Kathmandu, Nepal

A life of luxury

Opinions differ as to the dates of Siddhartha Gautama's life. Historians have dated his birth and death as circa 566-486 BCE but more recent research suggests that he lived later than this, from around 490 BCE until circa 410 BCE.

He was born into a royal family in the village of Lumbini in present-day Nepal, and his privileged life insulated him from the sufferings of life; sufferings such as sickness, age and death.

Monotheistic or polytheistic

Buddhism is neither monotheistic or polytheistic. Buddhism is the quest for Enlightenment, or Nirvana and there is no belief in a personal God. The quest for Enlightenment started with Siddhartha Gautama in around 6th Century BC and the two main sects are Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

They don't call their god anything because they don't believe that there is a god. The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka. It is written in an ancient Indian language called Pali which is very close to the language that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tripitaka is a very large book. The English translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes.

Their major holidays are Buddhist New Year, Vesak (Buddha Day, and Dhamma Day (also known as Asalha Puja Day

Islam

Rituals

Shahada/Declaration of faith

Salaam/Salat/Prayer (rakah only a unit of the whole Salah)

Zakāt/Charity

Sawm/Fasting

Hajj

History of Islam

In the seventh century, Muhammad claimed the angel Gabriel visited him. During these angelic visitations, which continued for about 23 years until Muhammad's death, the angel purportedly revealed to Muhammad the words of Allah (the Arabic word for “God” used by Muslims). These dictated revelations compose the Qur'an, Islam's holy book. Islam means “submission,” deriving from a root word that means “peace.” The wordMuslimmeans “one who submits to Allah.”

Monotheistic or polytheistic

Polytheistic to the core. They believe in a moon god allah and its 3 daughters al lat, al uzza and al manat.

They call their god Allah which means "god" not "gods". The Islamic holy book is known as the Quran. Muslims believe that the Quran is the book of divine direction and guidance for mankind. It consists of 114 chapters of different lengths with a sum of 6,237 verses.

Two major Muslim holidays are celebrated around the world- Ramadan, the month of fasting, and Hajj, the month designated for pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims who can afford it. Several other holidays are celebrated by most Muslims, including Eid Al-Fitr, which falls at the end of Ramadan, and Eid Al-Adha, which occurs at the end of Hajj.